BT pushing me to the edge

kate252

first time after years witout internet access- i amange to get the money to be on the internet.

firstly it transpires that i was put on a rediculous option whereas instead of paying a flat monthly fee and havingfree calls i pay for every single phone call and i get a bill- wihtout even using the phne very much- a bill that is more expensive then the flat monthly fee
so i change options under BT's advice then they charge me a fee for £200 for doing it- a cancellation charge.

that tips me over the edge but despte the customer services person swearing blind it couldnt be changed BT eventually wiped it off- and i would think so to as i didnt actually cancel anything

so then im on option 2 and pay £40 a month for broadband, my son has you tbe account as hes a train spotter- i think £40 is expensive but with a bad credit rating I cant go anywhere else and the speed is good, then i have these strange e amils telling me im using too much broadband and i dont understand them as im not down loading anything- not on the ineternet that much and i feel i am payng loads as its is and in my mind i cant quite get to grips that what i am paying doesnt cover what im using.

besides- i get span email asking for my bank account details and all sorts of crazy spam so i dont really know where this e amil has cme from and if its someone trying it on- thats the Gods honest truth- I swear

then i go into the bank one day and fnd i have no money and BT have wiped it all out and have taken £100 out- despite teling my support wrker the month before that i only have to pay £25 a month in the direct debit- he must have been talkng about bradband alone but w both thought it was inclusive- the whole package- and my support worker got fooled also and let me tell you hes not stupid and deals with bills and stuff every day

so i have to cancel the BT direct debit and when i phone up i am astonished to find a bill of £200 and they want me to pay £125 stratight away and pay forty pounds on direct debit. wehn i phone up to make the pyament a couple of days later- as i ahd to ut money in my account to make the payment- that agreement wasnt honoured and theyw ant £50 and £125. then a couple of weeks later- i am not joking the bill owed goes up another hundred.

so they ahve chraged me £300 for using more than my allowance. which i dont know how to calculate.
granted i have been naive and stupid and should have learnt about the service more etc

but £300? and whats worse- is that no one at BT bats an eyelid.

I kid you not- they think its perfe lty normal to pay £100 a month for simple broadband- not even downloading any torrents or anything.

no one even suggests chanig options- which ws done over the phone anyway and like i said- my support worker and i thought i had an all inclusive cheap deal

cheap deal? pah- BT take me to the cleaners every time- they must make billions in these hidden extra's- honestly they must really be raking serious amount of money in, they did it to me before when i was on diAL up and had no idea the bills would be so astonishingly high.

i just want to say they are now pushing me right over the edge- renting me a service- which i ave used and honestly didnt think we were that over the top with and charging me the absolute earth for it.

its draining me dry- and money i just dont have.

mrJ_5

You may not be downloading torrents, but if you're watching videos on YouTube or using iPlayer then you are 'downloading' data from the internet to your computer. Even by visiting this forum you are in fact 'downloading' too. This also includes downloading your emails. XBox Live and Playstation online would also eat away at the 20GB option 2 gives you each month.

You say option 2 is £40 a month for broadband? Looking at the current pricing, option 2 is £20.99, so that cannot be right.

You should check that your hub's wireless connection is encrypted and not open for anyone to use.

penrhyn

You'd be better off going for the unlimited plan @£24.99/month, ATM you are being charged £1 for every 1Gb you are exceeding your 20 Gb/ month cap.

What calling plan are you on basic line rental is around £11 ish?

As pointed out above all internet activity contributes to your monthly limit. You should make sure that your wireless is encrypted, and maybe start using a network monitor like Netmeter to monitor your usage.

http://www.metal-machine.de/readerror/index.php?PHPSESSID=16a74553bfc0acc6d59b7df0cf1207f3&action=tpmod;dl

kate252

British trouble have now changed me to unlimited- but still want three hundred extra pounds

rest assured this matter is goign right to the highest person until i get satisfaction as i am not happy and feel duped

they may have been within their rights to do- doesnt make it accpetable

the option 2 is 25 a month now and then i have the loine rental on top- and probably a host of other hidden charges like VAT- this really is the cheapest

as i have said i am taking this complaint on to anyone further up the company- all the workers at BT have had the authority to waive the extra charges so why expect them to? i need to speak to someone really high up and make them feel ashamed. i feel BT cons you out of your money

i honestly would go elsewhere but with debt relief order on my record i cant get in anywhere esle- otherwise id put this BT debt into a debt relief order (which i ahvent done yet) and go somewhere else

if anyone knows of a broadband company who sells broadband wihtout stringent credit checks then please let me know. how BT gave me the service where others wont must have been a fluke

i stand fast by my view that the amount of money theyw ant off me is obscene- particulalry when the original £40 a month is high enough without the extra charges.

i dont think its fair at all and is an obsene amount- im going to get someone to look at this and hopefully get it waived- they waived my £200 dial up bill a few years ago.

i dont know about encyripted stuff- i have it through a wire on a hub- i didnt want wireless

penrhyn

Is this £300 for broadband or phone calls or a combination of the two.
If you have exceeded your limit you will have been charged £1 for each extra gigabyte.

Encrypted wireless mean only you will have access to it via a password.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WPA2#WPA2

Your home hub is wireless, even if you are not using the wireless someone else may be doing so if it has not been secured. Is there anyone else at home with a laptop that uses your connection?

What was the cause of your excess charges when you had dial up, a rouge dialler or the like?

BT_company_representative

Hi Kate252,

I would like to take a look at your account to insure that those charges are correct. If you could please email me your BT account details, along with a link to this tread. My email address can be found by clicking on my profile.

Once I have received those details, I will look into this and contact you directly.

Cheers

Paddy,

mongoose2009

£200 bill is that all internet useage? 200GB is a lot of stuff
sounds like you are using iplayer or someone is downloading torrents to me
and as you did this before on dial up sound like you need to install a download meter to monitor your useage

kate252

message to BT i have already been through this and it has all been discovered to be correct- nstead of wracking up more debt of £1 every exra gigathing- what ever it is i neede to ave stopped using the ineternet altogether
the amount isnt £200 ts been more like £400 and i am gobsmacked any company can do business in this way
i just cant sustain this amount of money- i have to draw the line- have already paid £200 in the last two months alone- its getting rediculous and its making me ill
tomorrow i am going to make a you tube video and show everyone the bill and tell everyone to stay away from BT- keep away like the plague- i dont want anyone to get caught out like i did, i dont want anone else to be taken to the cleaners and thoroughly fleeced.
fleeced and fleeced and then fleeced again.
BT are fat cats- they cann never ever get enough, the more cash i give the to stem the tide the more they ask.
so what that they sent me emails telling me was going over my usage- i also get e amils telling me someone old granny has died and they need to get from nigeria, i also get emails aksing to verify my bank account details, get emails talking about online banking and a host of other things- so when i get bt emails coming in over a matter of hundreds of pounds instead of letters- it doesnt fathom in my tiny small brain what they are about. must have a tiny smal brain for hvaing put up with this for so long. i must have BIG FAT MUG written all over my forehead for BT to come and think- lets take all of her entire life savings- lets take this from her and leave her with nothing so she can get ll, stressed worried, and lets just decimate someones quality of life, peace of mind.
s what i went over my usuage which i thought was actually heavy usage allowance, i would have though the horrendous mnthly charge of excess of £40 a month could have covered wat i used, and i dont think £400 covers what BT has lost out on in any way shape or form. its a disgusting shambles and BT has had lots of chances through my desperate e amls to help me with this matter. perhaps my you tube video can warn others because thye need to know it coud happen to them too- especially if they dont know about how to track usage and especially if they dont check their spam box.

penrhyn

Bt is in business to make a profit for its shareholders and is not a philanthropic organisation.
It has been suggested that you monitor your usage and ensure that no-one else is hijacking your internet connection.
The BT rep has offered to review your charges, I'd suggest you take them up on the offer.

macman

kate252 wrote: »

message to BT i have already been through this and it has all been discovered to be correct- nstead of wracking up more debt of £1 every exra gigathing- what ever it is i neede to ave stopped using the ineternet altogether
the amount isnt £200 ts been more like £400 and i am gobsmacked any company can do business in this way
i just cant sustain this amount of money- i have to draw the line- have already paid £200 in the last two months alone- its getting rediculous and its making me ill
tomorrow i am going to make a you tube video and show everyone the bill and tell everyone to stay away from BT- keep away like the plague- i dont want anyone to get caught out like i did, i dont want anone else to be taken to the cleaners and thoroughly fleeced.
fleeced and fleeced and then fleeced again.
BT are fat cats- they cann never ever get enough, the more cash i give the to stem the tide the more they ask.
so what that they sent me emails telling me was going over my usage- i also get e amils telling me someone old granny has died and they need to get from nigeria, i also get emails aksing to verify my bank account details, get emails talking about online banking and a host of other things- so when i get bt emails coming in over a matter of hundreds of pounds instead of letters- it doesnt fathom in my tiny small brain what they are about. must have a tiny smal brain for hvaing put up with this for so long. i must have BIG FAT MUG written all over my forehead for BT to come and think- lets take all of her entire life savings- lets take this from her and leave her with nothing so she can get ll, stressed worried, and lets just decimate someones quality of life, peace of mind.
s what i went over my usuage which i thought was actually heavy usage allowance, i would have though the horrendous mnthly charge of excess of £40 a month could have covered wat i used, and i dont think £400 covers what BT has lost out on in any way shape or form. its a disgusting shambles and BT has had lots of chances through my desperate e amls to help me with this matter. perhaps my you tube video can warn others because thye need to know it coud happen to them too- especially if they dont know about how to track usage and especially if they dont check their spam box.

Can I try and summarise?
You went over your 20GB allowance massively (either because you are running an unsecured wireless connection, or because you don't realise that streaming youtube, iPlayer etc, is all coming out of your data usage allowance, whether you download it or stream it).
BT sent you emails warning you of this, which you either ignored as 'spam', or failed to see initially because you have not set your spam filter up to accept their emails.
They then charged you the excess per GB as per your contract.
I fail to see what more BT could have done.

kate252

Can I try and summarise?
You went over your 20GB allowance massively (either because you are running an unsecured wireless connection, or because you don't realise that streaming youtube, iPlayer etc, is all coming out of your data usage allowance, whether you download it or stream it).
BT sent you emails warning you of this, which you either ignored as 'spam', or failed to see initially because you have not set your spam filter up to accept their emails.
They then charged you the excess per GB as per your contract.
I fail to see what more BT could have done.

are you kidding me?

are you for real?

why then if they feel so great about what they have done have they just waived the whole amount.

and as far as the earlier comment from equally mr perfect peter on BT being in business and not a philanthropic organisation- ive never not suggested i get free internet and have always paid fort he service i use.

ive already explained that their e mails were taken for spam- and this is true- forgive me if i am not shiing star peter perfect- im human, and a big fat- over indulgant fine that no normal person can sustain is taking advantage.

i dont want anything free off BT but equally i would like fai treatment and good value and for the charge upon charge to stop. this includes the recent £200 charge for cacelling- cancelling what? i canged options under their advice- which wasnt even vey good either as they didnt wanr me id better keep track or this will happen.

sorry if i havent been on the internet like everyone else for the last ten years- im new to it- im not perfect- and do you kn ow what i dnt want to be either- id rather be human and have some decency and would like to think i wouldnt fleece customers in this way

if you think BT are so great- why dont you go with them?

funny that you dont then- as you seem to think they are so blameless- business indeed- dont i know it. id like to give them a great big fine for their mistakes but unfortunately i cant.

i bet you are the big fat cat watching the billions roll into the bank arent you- big fat greedy cat- putting extra charges when ever you can and giving genuine normal people a cmplete heart attack when they are genuinely struggling.

No free lunch, and no free lapto